


gray wednesday

by dreadfulbeauties



Category: Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan
Genre: Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, Insecurity, M/M, Morning After
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:28:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25010902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreadfulbeauties/pseuds/dreadfulbeauties
Summary: After one of the nights spent in Fal Dara.
Relationships: Rand al'Thor/Perrin Aybara
Kudos: 7





	gray wednesday

Rand can hear the growling of thunder in the distance when he wakes up. He lies there for a few more minutes, feeling the blanket tangled around his legs and his head cradled tight against the pillow. Rain rattles the windows of the small room, but it isn’t until he fully starts to awaken that he notices the warmth of someone else next to him.

Perrin lies close, an arm slung over Rand. He doesn’t sit up quite yet — there are more hours in the day than he cares to count, and he’d like to pretend that those hours can be spent here without having to think about the rest of the world looming so large in his vision. He can pretend at least. Rand has that much.

“Morning.” His voice is raspy when he speaks to Perrin.

“Good morning, Rand.”

Perrin leaves a quick kiss to the top of his head. He closes his eyes, wondering for just a moment as he hovers between consciousness and sleep if he can just curl up and forget about the rest of the day to come. But still Rand sits up, blankets sliding off him so that he sits on the bed. Perrin’s still curled up on the bed, heavy-lidded brown eyes looking back. He moves one hand to lace his fingers with Perrin’s. Warm fingers tipped in rough callouses clutch back at him.

“You have nice hands.”

“No I don’t,” Perrin grunts. “At least I don’t have hands that people think look nice.”

“I know. But I like your hands. I like all the callouses and scars you have. I can’t say why for sure but if I had to, it’s because your hands make you… you.”

“Odd coming from someone who doesn’t care for these—strange, though. I like your stretchmarks, and that’s mostly because they’re yours.” He slips a hand beneath Rand’s shirt —pulsing with warmth, scarred but strong and steady with fingers that won’t let go — and Rand lets him, feeling fingertips pressing lightly against the raised stretchmarks patterning his stomach. Think of how tall and handsome you’ll be, he’d been told, but he still wondered to himself what people might say or think if they caught sight of the faint red streaks painting his stomach.

“Strange, though. We seemed a lot more willing to at least… acknowledge those parts about ourselves last night. You told me you liked my stretchmarks, that they were a sign that I was who I am now. And I believed it. Where did that go?”

“It doesn’t have to go anywhere. It may take a while, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with your stretchmarks.”

“Only if you stop thinking that there’s anything wrong with your hands.”

“Then we’ll make it a deal. We’ll keep ourselves in check.” He pulls Rand down again, reaching over to smooth silk-like red hair away from his face. “None of the worst of what we tell ourselves about our hands or stretchmarks has to be true.”

“It’s a start.” He reaches over to dot a kiss against Perrin’s nose.

“I love you. All of you.”

Rand buries his head in Perrin’s shoulder, wondering to himself if that’s enough to hide the slight smile forming on his face. 

“So do I.”

**Author's Note:**

> i headcanon rand to have stretchmarks partly because of my own experiences - as someone a bit on the tall side, i can confirm that i ended up with stretchmarks, and they're nothing to be ashamed of! personally they're just kind of... there for me.
> 
> thank you for reading! take care <3


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